When I started investing in 2007, I bought my first stocks without doing much research. In fact, I did more research on buying my first flat-screen TV than which stock to buy.
Over the years, I met a lot of folks like myself. You somehow hear that the richest people in the world are investors 9 out of 10 times, and you think, “I need to get in on that.” You watch CNBC a few days, look at what stocks they talk about, and you end up buying the one you think is a “sure thing.”
“ING bank is a sure thing. There’s no way this stock can go down.”—Darius Foroux in 2007, one year before the financial crisis struck and decimated financial stocks.
When I think about my ignorance, I can’t help but laugh. However, I’m glad I stopped listening to mainstream financial advice. After losing money in the market, I only wanted to learn from great investors who actually made money, and I actively sought them out.
In this article, I’m sharing the 11 most important things I’ve learned from successful stock market investors.1Shoutout to Sam Ro and The Compound who inspired me to write this article.
